“Retro Roadkill” resurrects at Studio 2091

You are cordially invited to attend a very special retrospective art show.

OPENING RECEPTION: April 10, 2015, 5pm-10pm

Stephen Paternite, most known today for his beautiful Digital Infared Photography has a retrospective exhibition at Studio 2091 which may surprise you.

Early in his career, Paternity was the recipient of an “Artists Fellowship Award” (sculpture) from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Washington, D.C. While continuing his work in sculpture, he co-edited and published the “American Infrared Survey”, the first book of its kind to explored artistic trends in black-and-white & color infrared photography. Over 300 photographers from across the United States participated in this project, which not only resulted in the publication of the book, but also a travelling exhibition of original infrared photographs. The “American Infrared Survey” traveling exhibition toured the following venues:

The Florida Institute of Technology, Jensen Beach, Florida, in 1983

The County College of Morris, Morris, New Jersey, in 1984

The Vivian Esders Gallery, Paris, France, in 1984

Images Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1986

By 1988, Paternite’s talents and prestige landed him an “Individual Artists Fellowship” (sculpture) from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), Columbus, Ohio

Jackalstag 1986 ~ Mixed-media Sculpture, Stephen Paternite

In 1989, Paternite became embroiled in a controversy regarding some of his government-funded animal sculptures. During an exhibition of his Ohio Arts Council grant sculptures at the Canton Art Institute (The Canton Museum of Art) an uproar of sorts ensued over Paternite’s use or mixture of real freeze-dried cats and baby-doll parts, and that he had received a government grant to fund the work. The local controversy, which lasted for months, escalated to national attention when CNN began airing the story on its “Prime News” segment.

Since he began his professional art career in 1973, Paternite has exhibited artwork in over 180 group exhibitions, and has mounted 19 solo exhibitions throughout the world. With inclusion in both The Forward Thinking Museum’s and British Royal Photographic Society’s infrared photography centennial exhibits in 2010 — alongside Weegee, Elliot Landy and others — Paternite has been referred to as a “master” and “pioneer” of infrared fine art photography.

Now over 25 years later, this is your opportunity to see his rare early sculptural work in person.